Wednesday, June 6, 2012

This little meal came together quickly in response to looking in the
fridge and being faced down by two enormous bags of greens. Kale and
some unidentified purple rapini-ish situation, to be specific. I knew I
needed to hammer some of those greens into my maw before they rotted in
their bags, and I wanted something fast that would pack a favour slap to the
face. A quick inventory of the freezer and pantry determined that mahi
mahi and sprouted brown rice were going to be the dinner dance
partners, so I decided on tarting the fish up with a quick coconut curry
sauce and a side of lemon-y rice pilaf. The flavour slap was delivered,
and, bonus, it took under an hour, including a quick trip to the store
when I realized my curry had expired some time around Thanksgiving.
Sadface.

I was cooking for two, though we had enough fish and greens for another
meal. We would have had extra pilaf two, but I was distracted (by Ryan Gosling, natch) and burned the bottom of the pan. Thanks, Gosling.

Get the pilaf going, and while it's doing it's thang wash and prep the
greens, pre-boil the water for steaming so it's good to go, and get the
curry started. Easy peasy.

Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2
minutes, or until soft. Add the rice, lime leaves, lemongrass and ginger
and cook one minute. Add the stock to the pan and cook 12-15 minutes,
or until almost all the stock has been absorbed. Stir through lemon
juice and parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the curry paste, lemongrass and water to a frying pan over medium
heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the coconut cream and simmer an
additional 3 minutes. It will thicken up a little. Add the mahi mahi and
cook for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

Stir through basil, lime leaves and lime juice. When it looks this delicious you are good to go.

Add the greens to your steaming basket and steam for a few minutes until just darkened. Over-steamed greens are just sadness.

When you serve it up, spoon a little curry sauce over fish, and garnish
with a few slices of mango and crushed cashews. Go on, you deserve it.

Happy eating!

* I find store bought stocks salty, so I used a home made chicken
stock. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer to a Ziploc
freezer bag. That way it's quick and easy to thaw exactly the needed
amount. Ditto for soup and excess coconut milk/cream.

** Only use the bottom white part of the lemongrass. Also, if it's
old it can be a little woody. Find the freshest, palest, juiciest
looking stalk you can, and don't wait too long to use it.

*** This would also be fantastic with halibut. Or prawns. Or mussels. Just sayin'.